There are many products on the market today and many more waiting to be marketed which require the separation of components thereof due to the reactivity of the components, but must or, desirably, be dispensed simultaneously.
Some of the dual-dispensed products on the market today are peroxide toothpastes, hair coloring, epoxy adhesives, and the like. Many of these products require costly dispensers and fabricating and packaging equipment to produce dispensing means which deliver the separate components simultaneously. Besides the high cost, most of the dual-dispensers available today require a change in the target consumers' normal use habits with the product. These restrictions keep many products, that can bring major benefits to consumers but require dual-dispensing, from the market.
Products consisting of two flowable components such as pastes, gels, or liquids which must be stored separately are desirably packaged in containers having two compartments. Tubular bodies having chordal partitions are useful in providing two-compartment containers for two-component products which must have predetermined proportions of their components mixed at the time or point of use.
A number of longitudinally partitioned tubular bodies and dispensing containers having chordal partitions have been disclosed in the art. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 3,290,422, issued Dec. 6, 1966 to Michel, discloses a method of producing a dispensing container by injection molding a head fitment and a longitudinally extending partition onto and inside of, respectively, a tubular body. Tubular containers having asymmetrically disposed chordal partitions are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,506,157, issued Apr. 14, 1970 to Dukess.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,464, issued Dec. 31, 1991 to Simon discloses a deformable tubular container which includes at least one longitudinal corrugated partition-forming wall which defines distinct compartments and which lends itself to a flattened seal at the end of the tube body, Here too, however, the body and wall are produced by injection molding in a mold and the wall is permanently molded to the body. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,244,120 and 5,269,411, issued to O'Meara on Sep. 14, 1993 and Dec. 31, 1993, respectively, are similar in the scope of disclosure to the above earlier patent.
There are many cleaning, drug and personal products which are marketed today in single dispensing packages which could be dramatically improved if an inexpensive dual dispensing device were available. For example, products containing oxidizing agents, reducing agents, solvents, or materials with high or low pH's can be improved aesthetically by separating the flavor, fragrance or other components that normally would not withstand shelf life.
Many of the dually-dispensed products which are currently on the market and those which are not yet on the market can be dispensed from a tube rather than more costly dispensing means. A tube is a dispensing device that is readily available, familiar to most consumers, is comparatively less expensive and does not require elaborate filling equipment. If commercially available tubes could be easily and cheaply converted into dual-dispensing devices, it would be a great advantage to those either currently marketing or planning to market dually-dispensed products.
U.S. Re Pat. Nos. 36,035; 5,860,565; and 6,210,621, issued to Winston et al., disclose an inexpensive partition that is die cut and method of inserting the partition into a commercially available tube on the product filling line thereby dividing the tube volume into two distinct chambers before filling by the addition of each of two materials. By the addition of the partition, a conventional dispensing tube can be divided into separate and distinct compartments for dispensing more than one material from the same tube and, advantageously, can co-dispense incompatible materials simultaneously and at a low cost.
By using commercially available tubes there is no need to interfere with the tube manufacturing process, speed of production or cost, and, advantageously, the later addition of the partition, possibly during the product filling operation, to form the co-dispensing unit, costs far less, is more readily available in the size and form needed than existing molded codispensing units, and does not require a change in the consumers' use habits. To the consumer the dual-chambered tube looks and operates the same as a tube with a single compartment.
While the tubes of the above Winston et al. patents have been used successfully in the commercial market, in particular, for dispensing toothpaste, improvements can still be made. For one, during use, the partition can shift from a central location within the tube, causing an uneven distribution of the separated components. In some circumstances the uneven distribution of the components from the tube disadvantageously affects product quality during use.